SUPER ARISA WORLD

[Gors]

That is a possibility. I'll see what I can do.

[RokuGurin]

Yeah, Gors. Maybe we can discuss this. I'm still a tad lost...

With Metaru's post I still don't see it. He just changed Belle's color and did a mimic of Arisa's hair. That's kinda forced if you ask me. It's like splashing blue paint on Shadow to prove that he looks exactly like Sonic.

I mean Torch put the sprites side by side.

Belle- Cream yellow skin, brown loose hair
Arisa- Green skin, blonde pigtails

And I did explain that I made Belle's attire to look like that of a rival school.

I still vote for the shorter one. To paraphrase what I said, making her tall will establish her as superior right from the get-go; in which case, Arisa wouldn't be a match for her at all (which would possibly lead to the annoying arrogance Gary/Blue had). Having them both be the same size puts them on equal ground. They both want to be heroines but have not gotten to that point yet (and the other case being that Belle is cuter this way, haha).

[NICKtendo DS]

Looking at the sprite, I think another problem might be her cream yellow skin. It's merely an observation, I'm not saying it needs to be changed, but it affects the design in a way.
The color makes her skin look like, well, skin. From Arisa, we know she is a bullet, because she is a parody of Gilbert. We have to assume Belle is a bullet, because she rivals Arisa. What the color does is make her look more human than intended. It's an issue you might take into consideration if you're going to work on her design. Again, not saying you have to change the color (though it might help to choose a different yellow, but that's up to you).
I think look and feel wise, she needs a feature of her own, because she doesn't look 'special'. Arisa has her pigtails, Sengi~ her antennae and extra arms. I tried to add a distinctive feature when I was drawing my version, like the hairclips. Perhaps just adding something as small as that is enough.

[Garamonde]

Yes the thing about her coloring is exactly what I was trying to express to DragonBoy over IM. That and her hair being brown makes her look more generic than she really is, thus giving off that slight NPC vibe. Arisa has vibrant and unique colors that make her more eye-catching than Belle, and I think with a change in colors she'd become more interesting to the eye.

[Shinbs]

I'm glad you're going to make her taller Gors,I think that'll help.And Dragonboy,just because a character is taller,it doesn't mean it's superior to the shorter one,just look at Mario and Luigi.
To me,Belle currently looks like a player 2 character,which is p.much a clone of the main one with only a few differences,as if she started out as a recolor and later was changed slightly to make her stand out more (again,like Mario and Luigi).
To me,rival characters should be cooler than the main one,even if they aren't "superior".I think the rival should look cool and interesting enough to make the player want to play as the rival instead.Who never wanted to play as Blues rather then Rockman,or Knuckles in S3 before S&K came out?

Another thing I think is cool,is to make certain aspects of the two rivals reverse mirror each other.When I designed the two main girls of my game,they were kinda like this:
Main:
Biker shorts,Blonde,Jacket (doesn't show any skin)
Rival:
Legging pants,Redhead,Tanktop (with belly and arms uncovered)
etc

Of course,they didn't follow the "clone" rival archetype,and looked nothing like each other,but they were opposites in personalities,so I tried to show that on the designs.Maybe you could make her sleeves rolled up and so on.

[Gors]

that is the thing: they are not complete opposites. They are two characters with a similar goal and with the same probability of succeeding and failing. I'm somehow thinking on how to achieve this, but I appreciate your help.

[Shinbs]

Yeah,I got that part,but she's still the rival and should atleast look as cool or cooler than the player,anything but inferior.Right now she's really bland and I blame the hair,Arisa has some heavily stylized anime hair and Belle's hair look more like an uninportant background character.Her outfit could differ more too.
Can I give it a take if you don't mind?

[Gors]

sure, go ahead. Any help is welcome!

[Cobalt Blue]

i remember i took a try at the "make a rival character" with gilbert.

[RokuGurin]

I'm glad you're going to make her taller Gors,I think that'll help.And Dragonboy,just because a character is taller,it doesn't mean it's superior to the shorter one,just look at Mario and Luigi.

But they're brothers, not rivals.

Besides, who says a rival always has to look badass? It's not really a rule set in stone. Look at Barry from Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. He's a goofy as goofy can be. But he was a strategic fighter nonetheless, and some of my friends like him for that.

[Cobalt Blue]

I'm glad you're going to make her taller Gors,I think that'll help.And Dragonboy,just because a character is taller,it doesn't mean it's superior to the shorter one,just look at Mario and Luigi.

But they're brothers, not rivals.

Besides, who says a rival always has to look badass? It's not really a rule set in stone. Look at Barry from Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. He's a goofy as goofy can be. But he was a strategic fighter nonetheless, and some of my friends like him for that.

but he wasnt a recolor of the protagonist.

[Zac]

The only physique change that would really make sense to me for belle is to make her skinnier without being taller then arisa
like she tries to fit the modern idea of beauty or something
Kitsu: "why do they like you; you're so fat!!!"

[RokuGurin]

but he wasnt a recolor of the protagonist.

Um...I believe he was. At least in his initial appearance.

But I don't see how that relates to Belle and Arisa.

EDIT: Wait, are you talking about Luigi or Barry?

[Shinbs]

I'm not saying she must look badass,I'm saying she must look cool,as in interesting,and not a dumbed down version of the main char.
And the size thing still doesn't matter,no matter the relation betweem the characters;Vegeta is MUCH shorter than Goku,and guess who's most badass.

Here's my go at it,my original plan was to go for a complete overhaul,but I ended up making a more flashed out,less boring version of the current concept.
It's kinda eh,but better then the original imo.

[RokuGurin]

...and not a dumbed down version of the main char.

Yeah this; I don't see how people are making direct connections between them other than the fact that they're both bulletheads.